CHICAGO — A few city police stations are no longer sheltering migrants as the city hustles to set up new shelters and get asylum seekers out of the cold.
Eight police stations have been cleared out as of Monday: Wentworth (2nd), Grand Crossing (3rd), South Chicago (4th), Chicago Lawn (8th), Austin (15th), Jefferson Park (16th), Albany Park (17th) and Near North (18th) district stations, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Lobbies and sidewalks were empty at several of these stations Monday afternoon.
At the Near North station, 1160 N. Larrabee St, what used to be a congested sidewalks filled with tents and personal belongings was cleared as of Monday. Only a few black garbage bags labeled “do not touch” lay in the entrance of the station. A district officer told Block Club those folks were moved last week to a temporary shelter, 1308 N. Elston Ave. across from the Salt Shed music venue.
Migrants were moved out of the Jefferson Park district station over the weekend, according to an officer inside. Only two portable toilets remained outside the station. Tents and personal belongings were gone at the Albany Park district, where migrants had huddled outside for weeks because it was too crowded inside.
It wasn’t immediately clear where those migrants were relocated.
With temperatures dropping to dangerous levels and people still sheltering in tents outdoors, the city has doubled down on getting migrant out of police stations, which have temporarily housed people since the beginning of the year.
City officials said they’ve been able to move people out of police stations as shelter capacity expands and new shelters open.
About 1,200 migrants were still in police stations as of Monday, the city said. That’s down from a high of about 3,300 on Oct. 16.
A little under 12,800 people are staying in the city’s 26 shelters as of Monday. That’s nearly double the number of people in shelters Aug. 31 — 6,600.
How To Help Migrants
• The city has partnered with Instituto del Progreso Latino to create an Amazon wishlist where people can buy supplies for migrants.
• Anyone who wants to donate extra furniture can fill out a form requesting Chicago Furniture Bank pick it up.
• You can find volunteer and donation information on the city’s website.
• Read more: How To Help Migrants In Chicago As Winter Approaches
On Monday afternoon, several migrants were seen carrying personal belongings inside the new shelter near the Salt Shed. A yellow school bus pulled away as several gathered their things and headed inside. Few migrants wore jackets, with many wearing heavy sweaters and nothing else to protect them from the winter wind.
The city is also moving forward with plans to build “winterized base camps” to completely clear out police stations — one in Brighton Park at 38th Street and California Avenue and another on the Far South Side at 115th and Halsted streets.
Mayor Brandon Johnson pitched the tent camps in September as a way to get thousands of migrants out of police stations and provide more stable shelter through the winter.
Critics have been vocal in their opposition of the plan and of the company that received a $29 million city contract to build the camps. But the city has defended the move as a necessary “last solution.“
Construction will begin on the Brighton Park camp Tuesday, according to the mayor’s office.
The Lakeview district station is among those still housing migrants.
An officer told Block Club that 31 migrants were picked up Sunday and brought to a temporary shelter. The tents outside the station are now empty, since the remaining few dozens can all fit indoors now, he said.
Three women returned to the station Monday afternoon to grab some of their belongings they had left in their tent after being picked up and taken to a hotel-turned-shelter, they said.
They were bundled with jackets, scarves and gloves donated to them, but they said the cold was still brutal.
“We’re from Bogota, Colombia, so this is a big change,” one woman said. “I’m clearly not used to it. But I’m grateful for what I have.”
The women said they were glad to be out of the police station with the weather, but said the conditions at the shelter could be better.
“The food is awful,” one of the women said. “None of our kids will eat it.”
It’s also tough to be in such tight quarters with other families, she said.
“We’re in one room with so many other people, and it’s not like we can work to get our own space,” she said. “We want to work, I would do any job. But no one can hire us without our permits. And those cost $400. It’s so complicated.”
Block Club Chicago’s Melody Mercado contributed to reporting.
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